Korean in Mapo: Okdongsik Seogyo & More - 16 Local Picks

Thin slices of pork lie neatly over rice in a clear, light broth, a different direction from the cloudy pork soup of Bu…

House-made tofu sits between silken and firm: soft, yet it keeps its shape when lifted with chopsticks. Saeng-dubu is t…

Every table sits in its own walled or partitioned room, which keeps conversations private just off the busy streets of…

Solo diners set the order and doneness of each piece on a grill of their own at every seat, with no shared hot plate. S…

The gamjatang, a pork backbone stew, comes with plenty of meat on the bones and a broth that leans clean and mild rathe…

The sauce on the dakbokkeumtang, spicy braised chicken, cooks down thick and soaks deep into the meat, and the boneless…

Beef short ribs braised with jujubes, ginkgo nuts, mushrooms and pine nuts until the meat slips off the bone anchor the…

Wine and whisky can be brought in with no corkage fee, and whisky is poured into dedicated glasses, so the Korean dishe…

Yang, the first stomach of the cow, fills much of the bowl, joined by one big block of seonji (blood curd), siraegi (dr…

Live hagfish are kept in a tank, cleaned and cooked in the kitchen, then brought to the table ready to eat. The salt-gr…

Open 24 hours on Janjari-ro between Hongdae and Hapjeong, this budget eatery feeds late-night snackers and lunchtime of…

Pan-fried beef jeon, golden and savory, meets a peppery yukgaejang-style broth in the yukjeon gukbap. Bibim makguksu, t…

Instead of a flat grill, a cast-iron pot lid holds thick pork belly, Korean-made kimchi and tofu, and staff cook everyt…

Staff handle the grill from start to finish, turning and cutting the pork as it cooks, so nobody at the table has to ho…

Once the pot lands, the lid stays shut: the owner makes the rounds, adjusting the flame, topping up stock and announcin…

So clear it recalls chicken stock, the broth at Grace Gukbap carries tender meat that keeps turning up spoon after spoo…